Berlin, Germany

In order to get to Berlin from Budweis, I had to, first, get to Prague, and then transfer to the Deutsche Bahn fast train. Trip duration: right about 8 hours. Some fellow EGGers who were going to Prague for the weekend made the first leg of that journey much more fun. I met the group from Romania at the bus stop, along with Aquiles, another Brazilian. We talked and joked around during the whole three-hour train ride, and in spite of my light hangover, I managed to stay awake. I was having fun. So was Elena, especially after she saw me take a bite of my delicious train-station sandwich and pull a long blond hair out of my mouth. Apparently it is humanly possible to laugh at someone for 45 minutes non-stop.

I had a little over an hour in Prague, but as much as I wanted to go out and do some exploring with the Romanian group, that wasn’t going to be enough time. I said my goodbyes and looked for a place to eat (hopefully hair-free). The restaurant Potrefená Husa is a type of chain with locations throughout Czech Republic and Slovakia. Not my favorite. The prices were a little high (even for Prague), and the food was just alright. The service was a bit slow too, which almost caused me to miss my connection to Berlin. I ran across the crowded station and boarded the DB train, which left less than 30 seconds after that. Phew!

Five hours later, I arrived at Berlin Hauptbahnhof, where my friend Angela was patiently waiting for me. I had met Angela in Braga a few weeks before, so since I was “in the neighborhood”, I decided to pay her a visit. We headed over to this tiny pub called Dicke Wirtin (Carmerstraße 9  10623 Berlin) for some ice cold German beer and authentic regional food.  Angela introduced me to “solei”, which is a typical appetizer in German pubs. Solei is a pickled egg served on a plate. It seems simple and bland, but Angela taught me the right way of eating it: cut it lengthwise, remove the yolk, add a bit of vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, mustard, then place the half yolk back and eat each half with one bite. Result: surprisingly good.

After the solei, we had some Kartoffelsuppe (Berlin-style soup), which was also very tasty. I then ordered the roast pork with dumplings and cabbage, which couldn’t have been more German. Angela ordered meatballs in a white sauce, with beets and potatoes. We stuffed our faces and had a few more beers. I really enjoyed Dicke Wirtin (which means “fat landlady”). This landlady filled us up without leaving us broke.

We had a very busy Sunday. The goal was to see as much of Berlin as possible in only one day, which really isn’t much time for such a big city. We grabbed some “Coffee To Go”  and rode the U-Bahn to Berlin Hbf, which is just a short walk from Bundeskanzleramt - The German Chancellery, and the Reichstag, among a few other government buildings. We walked a few minutes south and saw the Brandenburg gate, one of the main symbols of Berlin, which is two blocks from the famous Hotel Adlon.

 

Also not very far from there was the Holocaust Memorial, which is undoubtedly a place that evokes dormant feelings. I was a bit scared and sad upon leaving. Luckily we found some decent currywurst across the street, so that helped a little. I had never heard of currywurst before, but to my surprise it was quite delectable. It’s nothing more than a good size pork sausage with curry ketchup, served with fries. Fast-food was good again.

After recharging the batteries, we headed southeast to explore what was once East Germany. We even saw some Trabis on the way there, and Angela showed me the Ampelmännchen for the first time. In East Germany, the pedestrian crossing signs were different, but remained after the reunification, as a symbol of East Germany. Parts of the Berlin Wall can be seen in different parts of town. The Berlin Wall Monument is a memorial with felt like a brief but enjoyable history lesson. From there, we visited the main former border crossing, Checkpoint Charlie, where you can still breathe a little bit of communism in the air (at least theoretically).

 

Angela and I walked headed over to Alexanderplatz for a quick beer. I wanted to visit a German Biergarten, but we couldn’t really find one that was accessible (and the lingering rain didn’t help). We ended our Berlin tour with dinner and drinks (again) at Potsdamer Platz, For a one day sightseeing experience, I felt like we accomplished quite a lot. I can’t thank Angela enough for the marvelous time I had in Berlin. We sure had great fun together there.